Jerusalem Post
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
05/25/2010 20:14
05/25/2010 20:14
SEOUL, South Korea — Pyongyang declared Tuesday that it would sever all communication and relations with Seoul in retaliation for blaming it for the sinking of a South Korean warship.
The North also announced it would expel all South Koreans working at a joint factory park in the northern border town of Kaesong, the official Korean Central News Agency said in a dispatch monitored in Seoul late Tuesday.
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Tensions were rising on the divided Korean peninsula in the wake of an investigation report blaming North Korea for a torpedo attack that sank the Cheonan warship on March 26, killing 46 South Korean sailors.
South Korea's military restarted psychological warfare operations — including blaring radio broadcasts into the North and placing loudspeakers at the border to blast out propaganda — to punish the North for the provocation. The South is also slashing trade and denying permission to North Korean cargo ships to pass through South Korean waters.
North Korea struck back by declaring it would cut all ties with the South until President Lee Myung-bak leaves office. South Korean ships and airliners will be banned from passing through its territory and the North will resume its own psychological warfare, KCNA said.
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Earlier, one Seoul-based monitoring agency reported that North Korea's leader ordered its 1.2 million-member military to get ready for combat. South Korean officials could not immediately confirm the report.
The North flatly denies involvement in the sinking of the Cheonan, one of the South's worst military disasters since the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, and has warned that retaliation would mean war. It has threatened to destroy any propaganda facilities installed at the heavily militarized border.
A team of international investigators, however, concluded last week that a torpedo from a North Korean submarine tore apart the Cheonan.
North Korea is already subject to various UN-backed sanctions following earlier nuclear and missile tests, and the steps announced by Seoul were seen as among the strongest it could take short of military action.
The US has thrown its full support behind South Korea's moves and they are planning two major military exercises off the Korean peninsula in a display of force intended to deter future aggression by North Korea, the White House said. The US has 28,500 troops in South Korea.
South Korea also wants to bring North Korea before the UN Security Council over the sinking. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Monday he expects the council to take action against North Korea, but China — North Korea's main ally and a veto-wielding council member — has so far done little but urge calm on all sides.
TrueGoodEndures — May 17, 2010 — http://english.ntdtv.com Tensions continue to mount on the Korean Peninsula today. Now, the South Korean Unification Ministry is calling on the South Korean government to halt all projects with North Korea that use federal money.
[Chun Hae-sung, Spokesman, South Korean Unification Ministry]:
"Since the current relationship between the two Koreas is strained, we requested each government division for their cooperation to suspend projects with North Korea, especially projects using government budget."
Tensions on the Korean peninsula have been rising since the sinking of the South Korean navy ship Cheonan.
South Korea has not officially blamed the North for the strike. But officials have made little secret of their belief that Pyongyang is behind the torpedo attack.
An international team of investigators is expected to release its findings this week.
The announcement comes one day after local media reported two North Korean vessels crossed into the South's waters.
South Korea fired warning shots before the vessels turned back.
